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Wendy van Eyck is married to Xylon, who talks non-stop about cycling, and makes her laugh. She writes for anyone who has ever held a loved one’s hand through illness, ever believed in God despite hard circumstances or ever left on a spontaneous 2-week holiday through a foreign land with just a backpack. You can follow Wendy’s story and subscribe to receive her free ebook, “Life, life and more life” at ilovedevotionals.com. She would also love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter.

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18 (NIV)

My friend has a theory that when you get married God gives you a marriage download.

As you say “I do” you receive the knowledge to be able to do all kind of things that before marriage were a mystery.

All of a sudden those household mysteries (like how to bake the perfect chocolate cake, effortlessly host your in-laws and recover the threadbare couch) just fall into your head and you become the perfect spouse.

Perhaps the rest of you married people got the download but I missed out.

I wish I received one thing in a download package when I got married.

All I want is the ability to remove stains from the brand new white cotton linen my husband and I bought right after our honeymoon (if rumours about that download were true we would have known not to choose white to begin with!)

I loved the fresh, crisp look of the white sheets and carefully made sure to wash them only with other white clothes. One afternoon, when the bedding was blown off the line onto the sand, was all it took to turn my beautiful white linen into a patchwork of browns.

A bit like sin, dirt crept onto them when I wasn’t looking, and caused a stain I couldn’t remove.

I really tried to get those stains out. I tried bleach, I tried leaving them out for the good old African sun to clean them, I tried miracle stain removing paste, but nothing would completely remove the marks.

My struggle to remove these blemishes made me think a little harder about Isaiah 1:18.

What a miracle God performs when he takes our bright red sins and turns them as white as the froth on a cappuccino.

God hasn’t just tried (like me) to scrub out the sin in your life but he’s actually removed all trace of it (it’s like you have brand new sheets not just bleached white ones).

He’s given you a brand new life, not just a new lease on life.

Don’t take this gift he’s given you for granted.

Have you ever sat and thought about the miracle God has performed in wiping our sins for good? Take a moment to thank him for making you completely new.